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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Remembering Mother

I've always avoided acknowledging the anniversary of my mother's death, but she has been so much in my thoughts the last couple weeks. She died thirteen years ago. Life goes on, full of many ups and a few downs, but we miss her.

This is not a full-life reflection. I've simply gathered photos taken over the last 15 to 20 years of her life that capture one of her expressions. There are many missing. She is more self-conscious than she was away from a camera. She had a look that could stop me cold at 50 feet. I never thought to capture that one. Today, with cell phones and cameras everywhere, I might be able to. I'm feeling a look just thinking about it. I don't have any of her trying to tell a story and laughing too hard to complete it. Nor of her concentrating intently, be it on a bridge hand, a baseball game, or a book. These are not the mother I knew as a child, nor the woman she was before she had children, nor the wife or daughter. But this is the woman I knew and loved as an adult. This is the mother I miss.

23 comments:

me too Sis, even though the kids remember Granny, they never got to know her on a grown up level. I know she would have been so in awe of all four grandchildren, their accomplishments, the way they have faced challenges, the people they have chosen to share their lives, their laughter and senses of humor (much of which seems to stem directly from her!)

I also like to celebrate the day of her birth, but the day of her death has so much more meaning for me -- a great great loss indeed. While we all have gone on and found much joy, at least in my mind, it's always tempered by the fact that she's not here to share it with us. Her million dollar smile, not careful and closed, but wide open and exuberant is my favorite memory

Sigh. She does look like she enjoyed life. It's wonderful that you had the chance to know her - adult to adult. My mother had a look like that and I would have been scared to try and get a photo of it!

What a wonderful photo montage and tribute to your mom, Susan! Such a three-dimensional aura brought about by those few words. Though sharing on anniversary dates can be challenging, thank you for doing so today.

Beautiful collage. I'm sure it wasn't easy to do. She was lovely lady, and your post is a wonderful tribute. I've always loved the quote, "To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die." I think that's the most we can wish for...

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